- The ex-Real Madrid manager stepped down at the end of last season after three successive wins in the UCL

- Sarri, who arrived Chelsea eight months ago is struggling to keep his job, with poor-away form at Chelsea

Zinedine Zidane, ex-Real Madrid manager, is on the radar of Chelsea as No.1 candidate to step in for under pressure Italian boss Maurizio Sarri.

According to Metro citing UK Sun, Sarri, who arrived Stamford Bridge barely eight months ago with lots of expectations is no longer in the good books of Blues’ board following spate of bad results including Sunday’s 6-0 bashing at Man City, incidentally, Chelsea’s heaviest defeat since 1991.

In addition, club’s chiefs are furious with some bizarre decisions from the 59-year-old tactician, including playing French World Cup winner N’Golo Kante in an unfamiliar position, resulting in below average performance from the box-to-box midfielder.

The report further claim that Chelsea are now considering Zidane, who stepped down as Los Blancos boss at the end of last campaign after guarding them to hat-trick of successive Champions League victories.

The Les Bleus legend is idolised by Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard and, The Sun, claim Zidane’s arrival is likely to see the 28-year-old pledge his future to the Stamford Bridge dwellers.

The Belgian captain has one year and five months left of his present deal and has repeatedly refused to sign an extension with Real Madrid reportedly ready to splash out £100m at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

However, Kante is yet to come to terms with Chelsea’s shambolic display against Man City on Sunday, saying: “It’s difficult to explain. They outclassed us. It was a collective failing.

“They outclassed us from the first minute to the last minute, and they made the difference in the first minutes of the first half. It was very difficult to come back from that.

“It’s a great disappointment and we have to react. It’s difficult to accept such a heavy defeat, but we have a lot of matches coming up to lift our heads and give us hope for good results at the end of this season.

“We all have disappointment etched across our faces. But we’ve got a lot to learn from this, and hopefully we will not repeat the same mistakes in the future,” Kante summed up.